By Dimitra DeFotis

Hurricane Isaac is not only barreling toward Louisiana, it is barreling toward the heart of oil and gas pipelines, refineries, power plants and other energy assets both onshore and in the Gulf of Mexico.

In fact, most exploration and pipeline companies have closed operations in anticipation of the storm striking land this evening. With 79 companies reporting, it looks like most oil production and 67% of natural gas production is “shut in” and workers had been evacuated from 84% of the manned platforms and 64% of the rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcementpress release.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration offers this cool interactive map that details what assets are where in the Gulf. It even pinpoints assets in the U.S. strategic reserve. Check it out here.

“Highest absolute exposures to Gulf Coast refining are XOM (but low on a global capacity basis), VLO, PSX and MPC: Our two trading long positions into this Q3 were Western Refining and Delek, and they have highest relative exposure. We see the impact of hurricanes as a net positive to refining margins, particularly if an SPR [strategic petroleum reserve] release is triggered, which seems likely.”

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Earnings reports, corporate strategies and analyst insights are all part of what moves stocks, and they’re all covered by the Stocks to Watch blog. We also look at macro issues, investor sentiments and hidden trends that are affecting the market. Stocks to Watch gives you the full picture of the U.S. stock markets, all day long.

The blog is written by Ben Levisohn, a former stock trader who has covered financial markets for the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and BusinessWeek.